Made it to California but will need drums and we are also going to replace the Hydrovac booster . The new shoes brake lines and cylinders and springs on both rear wheels got us here but still not happy with performance and the brakes seem to have a problem releasing hoping the Hydrovac booster replacement will help? Any other suggestions? Thank you so much for all the support during this trip ...and a trip it's been!

Make sure the brake pedal is returning all the way. We’ve seen a couple coaches where that was the cause of dragging brakes. Do you know if you have the large, or small hydrovacs? If they are the larger ones there should not be any residual check valves in the master cylinder. If the master cylinder was replaced before this problem started that might be worth looking into.
Good luck,Bill

FMC #735J is listed in the Coach DB as being owned by Dave Jacobs in Rapid City SD. If you are the NEW owner of that FMC #735, welcome to the Wonderful FMC World.
The #735 listed has a DuraMax Diesel engine conversion. Do you have drum brakes on all 4 corners ? Stock gas engine FMCs have two (2) Hydrovacs, the second one being behind the front bumper and in front of the right front wheel. If you have a Diesel Engine in your new FMC (#735?) you should have some kind of VACUUM PUMP, usually belt driven or on a service pad on the front of the engine, to provide VACUUM to the Hydrovacs. The Vac in Hydrovac stands for VACUUM. The pump itself, and the VACUUM lines, and perhaps a VACUUM TANK, all have to work and not leak.

We would all like to know more about you and your new FMC. Please share pictures of it , the engine, transmission, park brake (if it has one), driveshaft, differential, and how you resolve your Brake issue(s). Did you make the rear brake fluid hose attach to the lower wheel cylinder ? Got pictures of that to share ? Did you install new FMC Brake Shoes (share source, Part #, and $$, please) or have the shoes relined (share source, $$, please) ?
There are several FMCs (Diesels and Gas) west of the Rocky Mountains, that are active at Rally's and helping one another.
Brake ON !, Lou #120

I'm interested in seeing some pictures of the duramax swap on this coach as well, I attempted to contact the owner when I was searching for a coach a couple years ago but never heard back. Based on what I got from Stephen it is an earlier LB7/5sp Allison 1000 package.
Isolating the hanging brakes (to either just fronts or rears, or both) will tell you a lot, if it's just one or the other it's probably the associated Hydrovac, if it's both it could be what Bill mentioned (hanging pedal) or bad master cylinder.

This coach has the LB7 engine and Allison 5 spd tranny. The LB7 Duramax engine has a mechanical vacuum pump as OEM that is run from the serpentine belt. In fact, I added that same pump to my LBZ so that I could continue to run the stock drum brakes without modification. I believe his is the same, e.g. stock FMC brake system. According to the Parts Manual, this coach was originally equipped with the large Master Cylinder and large boosters.

So Dan 4 drums at $510.00 each $2,400.00. 8 wheel cylinders at (how much are they?) say $100.00 each wow I'm glad I'm parked I couldn't afford to stop! $3,200.00 and I still need shoes and expensive silicone fluid. Just think of all the money I'll be saving on gas.

This was a big motivation for me to buy the full set when Greg set up the group buy...I actually think my original drums can be turned and reused but I knew that the price for the drums wasn't ever going to go down so I bit the bullet... I'll also have my old drums to resell if they are in fact reusable to offset some of the investment.

I have one drum that has a hot spot, I don't know if there is enough tolerance left for turning, I'm sure my local alignment guy doesn't have the brake drum spec though...Hey, if anyone see's #184 for sale, it has new drums and shoes on the front, and about 80% on the rears!! Sad part is, it probably got cut up for scrap by now, but who knows.....

Does anyone have the part #'s for the Master Cylinders I have both styles Large and Small. Any help is greatly appreciated as most previous owners on the East Coast no longer have FMCS and all notes and part #'s are lost.

Go to the lower left of this page and click on “Search this forum” and then fill in the spot for the words you want to search for such as “master cylinder” and see what that turns up. Note the search criteria in the lower section. For the widest search click on the box for “all”.

Hello all, We had a smooth return to Ontario after an eventful trip to California. Our rear brakes had a comprehensive let go in Colorado and accompaning fire (quickly extinguished and probably caused by a wheel cylinder malfunction). We were towed to a shop and had the drums turned, new shoes fitted, new brake springs (ACD#18k1651, GM#19138430), wheel cylinders (ACDelco# WC28661). As we readied to continue on to California we noticed that the coach seemed to have contracted a case of Ebola from the tow as it was now bleeding out from all orifices (rear brake lines, power steering lines, and coolant from a freshly cracked radiator fill neck). We had new brake lines made up and limped into Los Angeles. There we replaced the power steering lines and had our son help remove and repair the radiator and install a new hydrovac unit (sourced from DS Parts in Bluefield, Va for about $200). The brakes now work properly although I should still get new drums. The return trip to Ontario was smooth sailing and our thanks to those of you whose invaluable advice helped us on our way, especially Bill Sitton, Stephen Heinrichs, and Frank Boorman. See you on the road, Tim Smutz

Glad you made it home and all is well. If you are brave enough to come back to the southwest, plan on attending the next Mega Rally which will most likely be in early July in Chama, NM. you can get there without passing through Colorado! We would like to see your coach and you will be able see a number of others including at least one other Duramax conversion (mine).